Running Shorts

"Home (Is Where the Van Is)" by Limbeck ...Aaaannndd we're back on track.  Glad I remember the alphabet from first grade. Anyway, this song popped up a bunch on my Pandora, and they mention Minneapolis so it counts.  Not much else to say...there might be another song or two from this band, but I'm going to try to avoid repeating them.  So we'll see.

"Dirty Water" by the Standells This one's a real deep cut, some classic '60s garage rock...so of course I like it.  There were definitely other Boston (is there really anything else in Massachusetts?) songs -- Augustana and Dropkick Murphy's come to mind -- but out of them all this is may favorite. Maybe I just like to think I know what I'm talking about (even though I definitely don't), and having an obscure '60s song makes me feel that way.  And besides, the best decade for music?  The 1960s.  Just sayin'.

"Pretty Girl from Annapolis" by the Avett Brothers Let me first just say that it's official: I am an idiot.  I can't even put the states in alphabetical order.  I totally jumped the gun on Michigan, skipping Maryland and Massachusetts.  Well that's embarrassing... And as for the song: crab cakes and football; that's what Maryland does! And pretty songs too, apparently.  I don't listen to the Avett Brothers as much as I should, but I hear they're pretty decent.  (Pun intended.  Sorry Joe Ryan) So the goal for the rest of the list: stop being stupid and learn how to put things in alphabetical order.

"All Summer Long" by Kid Rock I'm shamelessly putting this song on here.  I actually do like it. I mean, it does take samples from two great songs about places.  The one, "Sweet Home Alabama," is already on this list.  And the other, "Werewolves of London," is just an awesome song.  So by default, I can't resist this song.

"Going to Maine" by the Mountain Goats So for today's song, let's go to Maine. This is a completely random song and I'm not going to pretend like I knew of it before starting this list.  I think is another one of the songs found via and iTunes search for the state name. But I can't believe we're already in the M's!  That said, there are still like 30 more states to go...

"Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry Ok, so this is one of my all-time favorite songs.  That's probably kinda lame, but it's true. Honorable mention goes to The Animals "House of the Rising Sun."

"I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow" by the Soggy Bottom Boys Of course the Bluegrass State's song is bluegrass.  And go figure, the star of the movie (George Clooney) is from Kentucky. But in all fairness, Kentucky's song is one of my favorites on this list.  I wish I could make fun of Kentucky on here just as much as we used to on the team, but I can't.  This is a really sweet song.  Plus it's a good movie, too.

It will kill your feet.  I mean, unless you like the hobbit look, that is. I have scars on my heels and pinky toe where they got ripped up in the LunaRacers.  I have old blisters just about everywhere you can have a blister.  Of my 10 toenails, 5 are dead.  And I'm pretty sure one's about to fall off. Good thing it's fall, because I don't think I'll be wearing sandals anytime soon. But on the plus side, I do have a great sock tan.

So I mentioned a few days ago about the Hudepohl 14K that was last Saturday.  I ran it, and it was a sweet race, definitely a fun one.  That said, I didn't do as well as I wanted to. Freaking Kenyans. As it turns out, marathon training has me really aerobically fit, but anything faster than that and my legs just won't respond.  It sounds weird to say that and 8+ miles race is too short, but that's how it was.  I just haven't done any work at sub-5 pace, which is fine for the marathon but not for a 14K. So I got 10th.  But at least I was the 4th American.  Though, I did want top 5, and marathon training is no excuse. I didn't get as much money as I wanted, but at least I think I got some? But the real good news: I also got beer.  14 beers, to be specific. The race bib came with two tear-away tickets for free beer.  And I got a 12 pack of Hudy for top 3 in my age group!  Free beer for running race?  Yes please. So I guess the moral of the story is that b

"Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey Hey" by the Beatles What playlist would be complete without a song from the Beatles?  Maybe they're not the best band ever (that's totally the Rolling Stones), but they're definitely the most influential. Anyway, they have so many songs that I'd never even heard this one until iTunes finally got the Beatles.  I guess I owe a thank you to dead Michael Jackson (too soon?). So they say Kansas is a pretty boring state.  Well this song begs to differ.

"Iowa" by Balance Problems I just realized I've been really slacking on the blog in general and on the 50 states challenge.  So I need to get back on the whole posting regularly thing. Anyway, this is another one of those song that I think I found by just searching "iowa" in iTunes.  I guess it could be worse.  At least it's not as bad as driving through Iowa.  (Actually, I shouldn't say that...I've driven through Iowa a couple times and it's really not that bad; kinda scenic rolling hills)

It's been a while since I've posted on here...and it's been even longer since I posted anything about running. So this Saturday I'm running the Hudepohl 14k in Over-the-Rhine.  I haven't raced in what feels like forever, so needless to say I'm pretty pumped.  I just got new flats (since the LunaRacers were a disaster...now I'm rocking the Asics Gel-DS Racer) which I can't wait to try out.  I also ordered a singlet online and hope that comes in...if not I guess I'll just wear an old X uni. There's also prize money there.  They pay 3 deep for top Cincinnati finishers, 3 deep for top Ohio finishers, and 5 deep overall.  Being able to run for money and accept it is probably the best thing about not being in college anymore.  Now that's a real incentive to run fast (eh feck). Also on the website, to all those who finish in the money and are 21+ is a "beverage" prize.  That's all they say about that.  Let's be honest; that&#

"Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers I hate that I love Indiana's song. I wish I could say Ohio's song is gonna kick Indiana's ass. I'd love for Indiana's song to be as lame as the state itself. But it sure is hard to beat Tom Petty.

"Chicago" by Sufjan Stevens Illinois was another one of those states that had a lot of songs to choose from.  But unlike New York and California, it wasn't hard to pick one; it had to be this. Other potential choices included Kanye West, Ben Folds, Eric Clapton, Rhett Miller...and lots of others that I'm forgetting right now.  But it really was no contest.  This one really is the best Illinois song. And plus, the song had to be about Chicago for two reasons.  On the one hand, I'm running the marathon there in less than a month.  So I wanted to give a shout-out to the marathon city.  And on the other hand, is there really anything else in Illinois?  (Sorry Smooth)

So I realized that this is supposed to be a running blog and there aren't any recent posts about running.  My bad... So I guess the big news recently is that I'm officially in the Chicago marathon Elite Development race.  That's a huge relief to be officially in it.  It's also pretty nerve-racking...I've never done a marathon and I have no idea what to expect.  Not to mention that the entire race will be packed sidewalk-to-sidewalk with spectators.  I mean, if I need to drop out, where am I supposed to step off the course? I shouldn't think like that; I'm not gonna drop out. But yeah, should be crazy...it all got very real this week. So anyway, I'll try to post about running/training/racing on here more often.  I'll probably also make a tab about Chicago with more info or something.

"Idaho" by Train So this is one of the songs I found by searching for the state in iTunes.  That's not cheating, is it? And so when I saw/heard this song, I was like, H ey, I've heard of Train before ... and I didn't know they had a song for Idaho!  Score! And that's all I have to say about that...

"Hawaii Aloha" by The Strokes Ok so I'm real sorry about the lack of posts recently.  I don't even know if anyone reads this, but still...it turns out that working one and a half jobs and running 100 miles a week takes up a lot of time.  Who knew? Anyway, you also might be surprised how hard it was for me to find a song about Hawaii.  There's one Elvis song, but I wanted one a little less cliche than that.  So I found this song via Google, and it's okay I guess.  I'm not a huge Strokes fan, but I do like some of their stuff. There's a lot of Hawaiian-style songs, but not as many songs about Hawaii.  I guess people are either too busy doing cool Hawaii stuff or doing nothing (which probably also counts as cool Hawaiian stuff) to write songs.  That's just my theory, anyway. Besides, if I was in Hawaii, I wouldn't be writing a song about it.  I'd be committing felonies at Diamond Head. ...oh wait, that already happened?

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band So for today's song we're going just north of yesterday's and yet somehow at the same time a whole lot more South.  It's fitting too, since I'm watching the Boise State-Georgia game (go Broncos, btdubs). I know I know, real original song choice.  But you gotta admit it's a sweet song.  And it was one of the catalysts (good word, huh?) for starting this playlist, so it wins out by default. 

"Miami" by Will Smith No Flo Rida for the Florida song.  Nope, instead we're flashing back to elementary school. There's probably plenty of better songs I could've done for this state.  But come on, the cheese factor was just too high to pass up.  Nineties nostalgia at its finest.